Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra

Artist: Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra

Song: “I Stole Your Daddy’s Time Machine” (from their self-titled four CD box set)

Heard By: Adriana Rhoads, Del Mar

It was cool. It’s very different. At first it reminded me of a video game. I don’t listen to a lot of electronic stuff. I don’t know if the vocals were in key, but it was cool. It was simple; it wasn’t anything trippy in a different time signature. It was kind of dark, but it was humorous at the same time. When I listened to it, I thought of my friend who goes to a lot of raves and listens to a variety of things like electronica and techno. I don’t really go to [raves], but I imagine they’d play stuff like that. I’m not sure if it would be radio material — I’m not sure if a lot of people would like it.

Artist: Flicker Noise

Song: “Information is Power/Family Values” (from Spirit of the Islands)

Heard By: Jon Vidaña, South Park

It reminded me of the Chemical Brothers and Crystal Method. It had kind of a breakbeat feel in the background. It has natural noises and then a drum machine or an 808 behind it. I thought there was a horn, but it was a whale. You hear birds and then you hear the whales. If you don’t know that, then it sounds like music, but if you do know that, then you’re going to feel something kind of enchanting. The lyrics are more spoken than sung: he says, “the Orca has a highly developed brain.” I’m not sure if that’s “blockbuster” material because it’s kind of relaxed. I think I would definitely be smoking pot [to that song]…and I don’t even smoke pot.

Artist: Late Bloomer

Song: “Going to California” (from the CD Catchy Tunes)

Heard By: Pogi Sumangil, Rancho Peñasquitos

I liked it. It was very laidback. I thought the storytelling was strong, which I like in music. A lot of good, folksy country stuff is that way, so I think that’s definitely a strength. To me, the story was about picking up and going somewhere that you’ve never been before, and it seemed like there’s a little anxiety about that. I actually just moved out here, so it’s kind of resonant. There’s a little bit of anxiety, but there’s a lot of hopefulness and it’s very light. It was very optimistic. Initially, I was thinking there was something very Ray Charles about it and there’s also something Johnny Cash about it. It just feels like one of those songs that, down the road, people will still be listening to.